Skip to main content

No single person should constitute election petition tribunals – Jonathan


FORMER President Goodluck Jonathan has said that no single person should have the power to appoint all the election petition tribunals.
This is as Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, said that the problems of Nigeria were self-inflicted as they flowed from politicisation of everything and the promotion of pervasive injustice.Jonathan, who made this remark during a lecture/book presentation to mark the second term inauguration of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, in Port Harcourt on Monday, explained that allowing a single person to appoint election petition tribunals would erode the confidence in the system.
“The judicial process where one person constitutes all the election tribunals to hear petitions is not right. It is difficult in a democracy for somebody to be extremely neutral.“In one way or the other, somebody close to you will be in one party or the other. The only way to be above is to make sure that one person does not have all the powers to constitute tribunals to listen to all cases,” he said.
The former President stated that if democracy must endure, the democratic process must be developed in a way that people will have confidence in the electoral process.Jonathan explained that in spite of the challenges, Nigeria must embrace electronic voting, describing electronic voting as the ultimate, going forward.
He stated that the African continent must come up with a minimum standard for the establishment of an election management body.
Jonathan said for the purpose of confidence building for credible elections, no single person should have the power to constitute an election management body.Jonathan, however, called for the enthronement of independent security agencies that would provide security during elections.
He decried the online video in Rivers State where women were dragging soldiers attempting to compromise Rivers elections.
According to Jonathan, “The African Union must come up with a code of conduct for security operatives that participate in elections.“What happened in Rivers State, in a video being circulated where women were dragging soldiers down from walls was a very sorry sight. When these things are being discussed outside the country, if you are a Nigerian, you feel so ashamed.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

‘Thank you for not converting me to Islam’, Amaechi tells Buhari

File Photo: President Muhammadu Buhari shake hands with Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi on Wednesday jokingly thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for not converting him to Islam, saying he was misunderstood and criticised for associating with the president. He spoke when members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday expressed appreciation to the President for the opportunity he gave them to serve in his cabinet. At the valedictory session of the council, ministers in the cabinet took turns to narrate the lessons they learnt from the president as members of his cabinet. Amaechi narrated how he was almost chased out of Christ the King Catholic Church in 2014 for supporting the president, whom they alleged was trying to Islamise the country. “Mr President, let me thank you for not converting me to Islam. I say that specifically because in 2014 when I walked into Christ the King Catholic Church, I was...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tiwa reviews her true feelings for Wizkid

After social media users failed to relinquish the idea that Tiwa Savage may be dating her colleague, Wizkid, she’s had something to say moments after they were spotted partying together. Though, Tiwa days back, made their relationship clear after she gave a shoutout to Wizkid, calling him, her ‘bestie’, but then, users on social media aren’t satisfied with that “shoutout” as they all want more than a shoutout from her, to prove that she’s indeed not sleeping with Wiz. Recently, after partying together, the songstress who was involved in a kinda controversy in the just concluded headies after it was announced that her colleague, Yemi Alade won an award even though it was her name that appeared on the screen, shared something quite interesting on her social media page. Tiwa Savage said the experience of finding someone you’re comfortable with is though rare, but quite beautiful and safe when one finds it. This has fans wondering who she possibly be ‘comfortable’ with – with ...
Post a Comment
Read more